Attanayake asks why govt. is protecting economic hitmen

By Akitha Pereras

The government had acted irresponsibly by increasing the number of ministers while country was undergoing an unprecedented economic crisis, Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) national organizer Tissa Attanayake said, addressing the media in Colombo.Attanayake said that for the first time the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was looking into economic crimes in Sri Lanka.

“For the first time the UNHRC is trying to identify the economic hitmen who have destroyed the Sri Lankan economy. People of the country have never suffered in this manner,” he said.

Attanayake said that the whole world knew that the country was bankrupt and although the Parliament was in charge of public finance, it had not been informed the grave state of the Sri Lankan economy until a default was declared.

“The government must seriously look into the UNHRC report on the economic crisis in the country. We must respond to this report positively and try to use it as a guide to come out of the economic crisis. We were in a position to counter previous reports that focused on alleged human rights abuses, but we really can’t deny the allegations that some people destroyed the country’s economy.”

A number of opposition MPs have gone to Geneva including several SJB MPs, Attanayake said. “Everyone knows we are bankrupt. We are trying to restructure our external debt. We are going around the world with a begging bowl. We are only there to help the people of the country. We want the government to listen to the suffering of the people.”

The SJB MP said that the government had shown no interest in addressing the economic and political crisis. Instead of trying to get everyone together, the government was trying to arrest protesters who chased away Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the economic hitman who destroyed Sri Lanka, he said.